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ArchivesTrying to find out my background
My last name is Cunningham from my Father. My gandmother was a Miller. And my Grandfather on my Mothers side was a Sherrill. I am trying to track down where I am from (Irish, German, Ect.) If anyone can recommend me a website that can help answer these questions or even if you know let me know.
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If you're interested in doing some research to find out more about your ancestors and where they came from, I can recommend two free websites.
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/
Start searching by the name of the ancestors furthest back that you know (grandparents or great-grandparents) and see what you can find.
If you think your ancestors may have immigrated when Ellis Island was open (1892-1954), you might try the following site too.
http://www.ellisisland.org/
I hope this helps!
Sara
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/
Start searching by the name of the ancestors furthest back that you know (grandparents or great-grandparents) and see what you can find.
If you think your ancestors may have immigrated when Ellis Island was open (1892-1954), you might try the following site too.
http://www.ellisisland.org/
I hope this helps!
Sara
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I know offhand that Cunningham is English and I think Miller could either be English or German (depends on if it had been changed to that when they immigrated). But you should check the surname board.
http://surnames.behindthename.com/bb/list.php?board=sur
http://surnames.behindthename.com/bb/list.php?board=sur
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Are you sure? I am pretty sure that Cunningham is from Scotland. I know one whose ancestors emigrated from there to Ireland and thence to the US, with no known English in their background.
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oops
Yeah, actually I did know that Cunningham was Scottish... don't know why I said it was English... must be going insane. Thanks for correcting me!
Yeah, actually I did know that Cunningham was Scottish... don't know why I said it was English... must be going insane. Thanks for correcting me!
This message was edited 3/15/2008, 6:20 AM
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Cunningham is the name of an old district of Ayrshire in the south of Scotland where the surname presumably comes from.
I wouldn't blame you if you had thought it was English though, people don't always realise the diversity of language heritage in Scotland and think its all Gaelic. The south was actually under Brittonic influence so there's many -ham's.
I wouldn't blame you if you had thought it was English though, people don't always realise the diversity of language heritage in Scotland and think its all Gaelic. The south was actually under Brittonic influence so there's many -ham's.
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I did a quick search of immigrant records from Ellis Island. Of people with the surname Cunningham who have listed a previous residence, most were from Scotland.
There are also a large number of Cunninghams listed as immigrating from England, as well as other British colonies.
A few other Cunninghams are listed from Ireland.
~~~
While I was at it, I decided to search the other surnames on the Ellis Island website.
Of the Sherrills I found, almost all that were listed were US citizens re-entering the country. There was one from Liberia and a few with the spelling Cherrill who were from England.
There were MANY Millers, so I just looked at the year 1892. There were many from England, Germany, and Scotland. There are also some from Ireland, Poland, and other countries.
edited: to add other two surnames
There are also a large number of Cunninghams listed as immigrating from England, as well as other British colonies.
A few other Cunninghams are listed from Ireland.
~~~
While I was at it, I decided to search the other surnames on the Ellis Island website.
Of the Sherrills I found, almost all that were listed were US citizens re-entering the country. There was one from Liberia and a few with the spelling Cherrill who were from England.
There were MANY Millers, so I just looked at the year 1892. There were many from England, Germany, and Scotland. There are also some from Ireland, Poland, and other countries.
edited: to add other two surnames
This message was edited 3/14/2008, 4:17 PM
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Thank you so much for your help. Everything that you told me was interesting. Could you please let me website you used.
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